Moscow hopes elections in Donetsk, Luhansk will be held in democratic way

For its part, Ukrainian government says those elections will jeopardise peace process in the country

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ITAR-TASS/EPA/ROMAN PILIPEY

MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. Russia’s Foreign Ministry hopes that the elections in Donetsk and Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, scheduled for November 2 will be held in a democratic way to its maximum, with the active turnout, a Russian diplomat said on Tuesday.

“The elections will take place in eastern Ukraine in compliance with the Minsk agreements and under law that was approved in Ukraine,” director of the Russian Foreign Ministry 2nd CIS Department Viktor Sorokin said at a session of the Federation Council monitoring commission for Ukraine.

“As far as I know observers will be there. Their presence, though their number is small, proves that the republics are ready to openly demonstrate preparations for and the pace of the voting,” Sorokin said.

Commenting on how to name the regions where the elections will be held, he said now the priority was to stop people’s killing and hunger, and resume the work of the regions’ economy.

“They will think then how to live further and how to be named,” he said.

Ukraininan government position on elections in Donetsk and Luhansk

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry says elections of the heads and parliamentarians of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics scheduled for November 2 will jeopardise the peace process in the country.

“Any own voting in this Ukrainian territory will hamper the peaceful settlement,” the ministry’s spokesman, Yevgeny Perebeinos, said.

The results of the elections “will not be recognised by the central power or anywhere in the world”,” Perebeinos said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also said the elections in the republics run counter to the Minsk agreements.

Russia is ready to recognize the results of elections in south-eastern Ukraine

Moscow hopes elections in the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk Republics will finally be held and will recognize their results, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the LifeNews television channel and the Izvestia newspaper.

“Elections due to be held in the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics on November 2 will be very important from the point of view of the legitimization of power,” he said. “We think this is one of the most important aspects of the Minsk agreements.”